Arthur Pendragon
'Arthur Pendragon '(ぺンドラゴン・アーサー ,'' Pendoragon'' Asa) is the captain of the Checkmate Pirates, which he created himself. He ate the Oni Oni no Mi (named for onikakushi, spirited away) which allows him to instantly swap places with someone he's touched. Appearance A fairly young boy, Arthur has the stature of a teenager, not a man. He is of a medium build, and not very muscular. He's taller than average height, perhaps an inch or two shy of six feet tall. His face is notably round, though it appears he has a decent bone structure underneath. He has straight black hair, dark green eyes, and comparatively pale skin. Although his clothes change from time to time, he generally wears a white undershirt covered by a black vest, and shorts of varying colors. He wears sneakers or some sort of cloth shoe, durable and pliable, as opposed to a hard-soled shoe or sandals. Occasionally he'll carry a long, flowing black mantle, but it is not part of his usual attire. He has also taken to wearing a traditional three-pointed hat. Personality Arthur is a very excitable and generally excited person. A pessimist might describe him as having delusions of grandeur, but he would prefer his style to be thought of as "pushing the limits of the world which holds him." Thus, delusions of grandeur is fairly appropriate. This is the style with which he governs his crew, and conducts most of his adventures. He believes himself destined to be a king, leading to becoming the self-proclaimed King piece of his crew. It is because of this that he seeks the great treasure One Piece, the treasure that will make its bearer the Pirate King. However, there is another style of his which prevails mostly within battle, but occasionally when he's speaking one-on-one with his crew about serious matters. He's modest, and is the first to admit that the King is the weakest piece in chess and appropriately he is the weakest of his crew. He can be much calmer and thoughtful when the need arises, and in both styles, even though he's excitable normally, he's very patient. This comes from his penchant for chess. He's a big fan of chess, going so far as to design his crew's name, flag, and even roles of the crew in chess piece style. He's very strategic, and this helps him and his whole crew in battles in which he can arrange his crew to checkmate his opponents. Relationships Crew As King and Captain of the Checkmate Pirates, Arthur cares deeply about his crew. He readily admits that he is by far the weakest member of the crew, and relies on their strengths in conjunction with each other and his own power for the good of them all. Mellifera Mellifera is the only member of the crew Arthur has known since his youth, as she is his older sister. She is very caring and protective of her little brother, though she knows (and delights in the fact) that it annoys him. She tends to treat Arthur's exploits as though he's playing a pirate game, even though she's well aware of the effort and dangers he puts himself in through the adventure. She tells him to call her "nee-chan" or "onee-san," though he resorts to the more crass "aneki". Fay Although Fay does not interact with the crew, and she hid herself from them since the time of her joining, Arthur is determined to make her feel like a real crew member and nakama, despite her chosen isolation. He assumes she must want to be with them, because she would have left long ago if she didn't. Abilities Swordsmanship Arthur is technically a swordsman, but his skills with a sword are very limited. Unlike his sister Mellifera, who is a very proficient swordswoman capable of fast and powerful strikes, Arthur's sword skills are more relegated to threatening opponents or a last ditch strike as opposed to a real sword fight. Arthur initially only has one sword, a shortsword called Carnwennan which is barely more than a dagger, but he gains the powers of a sentient sword Excalibur shortly after starting his journey. Despite Excalibur's powerful make and spirit, Arthur cannot wield him well due to a lack of skill. What's more, when Excalibur lets his spirit rise, Arthur's own will may become suppressed and turn the normally shrewd strategist into an indiscriminate berserker. Following the temporary disbandment of the Checkmate Pirates where each member engaged in individual training, Arthur was instructed and educated on the proper use of Haki. His instructor was skilled enough to evade and block every random strike made by Arthur when the latter was overwhelmed by Excalibur's willpower, which means that Arthur was actually able to train while out of control without worry of harming anyone. He eventually became capable of controlling his mind and body under Excalibur's influence, and became proficient enough with Busoshoku and Kenbunshoku Haki even when not wielding the blade. He still requires at least a hand on Excalibur's hilt to use Haoshoku Haki, but his training has enabled him to master its use. He parted ways amiably with his instructor, though maintained that his tricorne hat was far cooler than the hat worn by his trainer. Devil Fruit Arthur ate the Oni Oni no Mi . The fruit's name comes from the phrase onikakushi, "spirited away," which it was it seems like he's doing. This power lets him instantly swap places with any sentient being that he's ever touched, provided that they're currently within a 250 meter radius. This is great for instantly arranging his crew in a manner he calls "Castling." If someone has been touched by him, then nothing will erase that "tag" from them, not distance nor falling into water nor anything. He simply has to be close enough to them, and they must be above water and/or not touching Kairoseki, for him to swap places with them. The swap is instantaneous, and he can execute several in a very short time. History Formation of the Checkmate Pirates: The Checkmate Pirates came together on Hayward D. Rockefeller's home island of Deepwater Island. Arthur had arrived on the island fairly aimlessly along with his sister Mel, only about a week after setting sail from their own homeland and officially becoming pirates. At this point they had little to their name, not even a black flag or sizable craft. After exploring the island and being split up, Arthur was arrested by three castle guards who turned out to be two Marine Vice Admirals in disguise, as well as Lucia. He was taken into the castle walls and reunited with Mellifera, and both of whom were thrown in a jail cell underneath the castle to keep them out of the way for the arrival of the World Noble touring East Blue. Following Hayward's attacks in the courtyard, Lucia returns to the cell (accompanied by Hina, whom Mel met earlier that day) to free them. Returning to the surface, Arthur, Mel, Lucia and Hina do their best to subdue the rampaging Hayward, eventually trapping him in a stone dome created from Hina's Stone Dolls. They are then made aware that the World Noble who Hayward was attacked had ordered the arrival of an Admiral even before the attack, and now they had that problem to address. Hina had run off ahead toward the beach, but returned running back after meeting a pair of battlers who had stowed away on the Marine's ship, Rayden and Haiiro. Deciding to team up, the group charged into the beach and fought their way through the Marine ranks to reach the ship. Arthur however chose to board the World Noble's ship, his anger at the arrogance of calling an Admiral and the injustice and keeping his slave girl Fay boiling inside him. Arthur was surprised to see that the World Noble was proficient at combat, and skillful enough to keep Arthur on his toes with a brilliant longsword (Excalibur) before attempting to immbolize him with a bola edged with Kairoseki. The bola hit an invisible Fay instead, and as the World Noble lunged at her Arthur interposed himself between her and the blade, blocking the attack. He managed to stay on his feet long enough, and with Fay's assistance in hiding him he overpowered the World Noble and threw him overboard. Mel arrived from the Marine ship they had taken, only to see Arthur critically injured. She carried him back to the Marine ship, where Faust was able to heal him with great skill. Arthur then switched them over to the World Noble's ship, where they were able to sail past the Marine blockade with little resistance, and break away into their adventure together as the Checkmate Pirates. Extra Art Arthur 1.jpg|Arthur Pendragon: Take One. Looks a bit like an evil twin! Credit to Aquatic_Kimothy Trivia *Arthur's name comes from the legendary King Arthur, reflecting his stature as a king. Surprisingly though, he does not have the rare Haoshoku Haki, as one might expect a true king to. *Arthur's epithet, the Demon King, is a joke because the word Oni in Japanese translates to ogre or demon, but Oni is the word for the person who is "it" in tag (onigokko). This references Arthur's tagging powers, and creates a very false impression for those who have not met him. His fruit's name relates to this, as another word for being spirited away is onikakushi, to be taken by demons. Thus he is described as a demon who steals you away, quite unlike his actual character. *Arthur has a habit of claiming he has longstanding policies about certain subjects, when in fact he often makes up such a policy on the spot. *Arthur's favorite food is mildly spicy curry, especially tonkatsu curry. His least favorite food is eggs. *Arthur Pendragon (the character) was created by me, Nettlekid. *The excellent original drawing of Arthur Pendragon was done by Aquatic_Kimothy. Category:Checkmate Pirates Category:Devil Fruit Users Category:Captains Category:Characters Category:Swordsmen Category:Pirates Category:Male Category:Humans